Ask Ida: Volunteers Serve Vital Role at Lawrence General

She’s a familiar face in the Lawrence General Hospital main lobby. Always smiling, helpful, and kind. Always in heels and professionally dressed, though she is an unpaid volunteer. She also volunteers once a week in pre-admission testing, and is an on-call baby cuddler, providing the comfort of a human touch to newborns in need.

If you ask Ida Floriddia, she will tell you she always worked in a corporate environment and the heels are a familiar habit. It’s the same with the smile and listening ear, though her story takes an unexpected turn. Two weeks before she retired from her corporate job almost three years ago, her husband unexpectedly passed away. Feeling adrift, and needing something meaningful to fill her hours and fulfill her need to be with people, she turned to Lawrence General’s volunteer program.

"I love the interaction and helping people. It’s so busy,” says Floriddia. “Volunteering here has saved me, in a way. I am connecting with people, providing them with another friendly face in an unfamiliar environment. It’s a reason to get out of the house each day.”

During National Volunteer Week in the spring, Lawrence General celebrated 470 active volunteers who contribute to the hospital’s operation, donating a total of 24,000 hours of their time. Each of them has their own story and their own reasons for their service to this hospital community. If you ask Ida, who has volunteered 1471 hours since December of 2014, she’s likely to tell you that those babies give her as much comfort as she gives them.

For more information on volunteering at Lawrence General contact Volunteer Services at 978-683-4000, ext. 2645 or email us at volunteers@lawrencegeneral.org.